Tag Archive for: breast cancer treatment decisions

Considerations That Help Guide Breast Cancer Treatment Decisions

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Considerations That Help Guide Breast Cancer Treatment Decisions from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What are key factors that help guide breast cancer treatment decisions? Expert Dr. Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy explains what is considered and explains the significance of each factor.

Dr. Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy is the Section Chief of Breast Medical Oncology and the Director of the Medical Oncology Fellowship Program in Breast Cancer at The Ohio State College of Medicine. Learn more about this expert here.

See More from Thrive Breast Cancer

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What Role Do Breast Cancer Patients Play in Care and Treatment Decisions?

 Thriving With Breast Cancer Tools for Navigating Care and Treatment

 Why Should Breast Cancer Patients Feel Empowered to Speak Up About Their Care?

Transcript:

Katherine:

Another key component of thriving is finding  a treatment that is right for your disease. What are the considerations that guide a treatment decision?

Dr. Waks:

Yeah, great question. So, what we just talked about,  the two things that are very important for us to make a decision, and that’s where we have come far in the last 20, 25 years, is because we are not just taking the staging.

That is anatomical staging, meaning what’s the size of your tumor and the lymph node involvement. We use those. That is important for us because that obviously changes the risk. The higher the stage, the higher risk of   recurrence. The higher the risk, we have to do more treatment to get a benefit, right? So, that’s one side. But what we have come to understand is biomarkers  are very important. That is biology of your tumor.

So, the grade, how quickly it’s proliferating although it’s not a biomarker, but it tells us a lot. And then the three important biomarkers we talked about ER, PR, and HER2. Those all are important for us to make a decision. In addition to that, we do something called a genomic testing called Oncotype  DX assay. There is also another test called   MammaPrint. These are genomic testing.

That is, we look at some of the genes that are up or downregulated in your tumor to decide whether you  are going to benefit for something called   chemotherapy or maybe just targeted therapies enough. So, these are some of the factors that we use to make a decision.

Now, do we use age and your performance status? Meaning how well you are? Do you have   comorbidities? Do you have bad diabetes? Do you have heart disease? Yes, they all go into that whole treatment decision, but the primary is made out of biomarkers and genomic testing and anatomic, and the rest are additional factors that go into our decision-making.

Katherine:

Yeah. What about metastatic disease? Are the considerations different when it comes to treatment?

Dr. Ramaswamy:

It is a little bit different because the first thing that we have to understand is when we are seeing them in stage I, stage II, stage III, which is stage IV is metastatic, stage II – we – our goal is a curator. We are trying to really throw the kitchen sink, although that’s really not what we do. We are trying to still be  tailored therapy, but we are trying to do everything we can to prevent a recurrence.

But now when you have a stage IV disease that is the cancer has   spread, that is the horses have left the  barn in the breast and has gone and settled in distant  organs and gone, our goal is to try to contain the disease. So, prevent further progression, prolong the  life and survival, and also improve quality of life. So, there are those consideration.

The biomarkers still go into consideration. We ensure we biopsy the metastatic site and look for those biomarkers. We do the genomic testing, gene sequencing of this. That will also help with our decision-making. We, of course, look for clinical trials because new novel therapies are always more important, but these are the other factors. And, of course, performance status that is how well you are,  how well your organs are functioning, and what’s your age, and how that affects your morbidity. All of those are also important.

Why Breast Cancer Patients Should Share Emotional Concerns With Their Team

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Why Breast Cancer Patients Should Share Emotional Concerns With Their Team from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What is it important for breast cancer patients to share their emotional concerns? Expert Dr. Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy reviews common emotional issues that can arise for patients, discusses why it’s important to voice concerns, and shares support options.

Dr. Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy is the Section Chief of Breast Medical Oncology and the Director of the Medical Oncology Fellowship Program in Breast Cancer at The Ohio State College of Medicine. Learn more about this expert here.

See More from Thrive Breast Cancer

Related Resources:

Thriving With Breast Cancer Tools for Navigating Care and Treatment

 Why Should Breast Cancer Patients Feel Empowered to Speak Up About Their Care?

 What Role Do Breast Cancer Patients Play in Care and Treatment Decisions?

Transcript:

Katherine:

Yeah, thank you for that. It’s really helpful. And it actually leads us into the next topic. Coping with emotions that come along with a breast cancer diagnosis such as anxiety and depression can be challenging. Why is it important to share emotional concerns with your healthcare team?

Dr. Ramaswamy:          

Yeah, so I think one of the things that the breast cancer patients, I mean, I would say all cancer patients, I’ll be honest, or any kind of chronic illness, fearful illness. And I think most what they – I think what hurts them most is the how isolating the journey is because despite having very close family and they might have full trust in their providers. At the end of the day, those fears, those sorrow of potential mortality and all the side effects has to be gone through them. They’ve got to go through that. And then validating their anxiety, validating their fears, validating their symptoms is so important. So, that’s why telling your patient I understand. Whatever it is, you’re going through an isolating journey, it’s hard, and I validate all your concerns that you have.

We can’t really compare apples to apples here like patient to patient because you – we all have an inherent approach to a critical problem. And this is a critical problem that comes into your life and whatever that approach is of what – how you’re going to approach this. So, there’s no right or wrong and how she copes and you cope. And sometimes family does that and sometimes your own friends do that. Like, oh, it’s okay, but see she did well and she and you know and see how she’s coping. It doesn’t help. I think so educating the family as well to say or the spouse particularly validate their concerns, give validation and acknowledge their concerns and then say something positive to help them move forward. And I think these are important. And I think what I tell my patients is that I will never know what you’re going through if you don’t share it with me.

And this would be both emotional and your physical and okay, I can pick some of it with your in a body language, but I can’t really pick the depth of the problems and we can address how to find solutions. The third point that’s important is there are solutions or this. It’s not like they’re going to get better completely, but we can help you. We can help you whether it’s emotional anxiety symptoms, we can find peer group that could help. We can find psychosocial counseling that can help. We can also help with actual treatment and medications that helps with depression and anxiety that we can manage better. And we can help you with your sleep because sleep is so important. And when you’re sleeping is when you start worrying about many things.

And the same way with all your other physical side effects, there are some things that we can do. We are never going to say, “Well, put up with this. You just have to go through this to get better.” We never say that. We will try to address it in some way. Now, I do understand the limitations of what we can do and it doesn’t always get better to everybody, but if you don’t tell us, we can’t even try.

So, it’s so important to share and sometimes sharing  all this reduces the burden on you. So, and I think that’s important as well, so.

How Can Breast Cancer Patients Benefit From Shared Decision-Making?

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How Can Breast Cancer Patients Benefit From Shared Decision-Making? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

How can shared decision-making benefit breast cancer patients? Expert Dr. Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy defines shared decision-making and discusses how the process may benefit patients.

Dr. Bhuvaneswari Ramaswamy is the Section Chief of Breast Medical Oncology and the Director of the Medical Oncology Fellowship Program in Breast Cancer at The Ohio State College of Medicine. Learn more about this expert here.

See More from Thrive Breast Cancer

Related Resources:

Thriving With Breast Cancer Tools for Navigating Care and Treatment

 Why Should Breast Cancer Patients Feel Empowered to Speak Up About Their Care?

 What Role Do Breast Cancer Patients Play in Care and Treatment Decisions?

Transcript:

Katherine:

Dr. Ramaswamy, before we move on to answering questions from our breast cancer community, I’d like to touch upon the concept of shared decision-making. In your mind, what does that mean?

Dr. Ramaswamy:          

So, it is a concept that has come more lately in our lives. Even as I started, we didn’t – not that we didn’t do it, we didn’t give it a name. And I think now giving it a name always helps because we always think about it and make sure we are doing it. I think the shared decision-making is important on two levels. Sometimes we do have treatment options that are very similar as far as outcomes, so.

It is important to understand what are the goals of the patient. Is it that even if it’s a 0.5 percent increasing their cure rate, is that their goal? Or really looking at the benefits versus the risks and versus side effects and trying to reduce the side effects and quality of life. So, I think this – those kinds of things, this will never be addressed if you don’t understand our patient and give them an opportunity to speak out what they want.

So, I think in – and this happens in every aspect of their journey, right? So, it is important even if they say sometimes they’ll talk about sexual side effects and we talk about it and we offer some clinics. And they might say, you know what? At this point, I think I know you’ve shared with me certain ways. Let me try it and then I’ll tell you when. So, everything is the shared decision-making because that’s when we have the highest sense of compliance and to feel a sense of feeling that they’re  being heard, and we are in this together. And if we are not in this together, it is almost impossible to get  the best outcomes both from quality of life and also survival. So –

Katherine:

Yeah.

Dr. Ramaswamy:

 – that’s where the shared decision-making comes to. So, understanding the patient better and the patient understanding their outcomes better.

Why Should Breast Cancer Patients Engage in Care Decisions?

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Why Should Breast Cancer Patients Engage in Care Decisions? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What role should breast cancer patients play in their care and treatment decisions? Expert Dr. Jame Abraham explains the concept of shared decision-making and stresses the importance of patient/healthcare team communication.

Dr. Jame Abraham is the chairman of the Department of Hematology & Medical Oncology at Cleveland Clinic and professor of medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine. Learn more about Dr. Abraham.

See More from Thrive Breast Cancer

Related Resources:

What Role Do Breast Cancer Patients Play in Care and Treatment Decisions?

 Thriving With Breast Cancer Tools for Navigating Care and Treatment

 Why Should Breast Cancer Patients Feel Empowered to Speak Up About Their Care?

Transcript:

Katherine:

Dr. Abraham, what is shared decision-making?  

Dr. Abraham:

Yeah. So, that’s a really good question. When, as you know, when somebody’s ill, doesn’t matter what the condition is, patients have the biggest stake in that. It’s my health, or it’s the patient’s health. So, it’s really important for us to, patient to be aware, and empowered, in the decision-making.  

So, it’s an informed process, an empowered process, for the patient to be part of the decision-making, understanding the risks and benefit of the treatment steps. And when I said treatment, it can start from screening, the procedures, to treatment, any of the things that we do, that should be an informed, shared decision-making.  

Katherine:

Dr. Abraham, why is it so important for patients speak up about any treatment side effects or symptoms they may be experiencing?   

Dr. Abraham:

So, as I said, they have the biggest stake in this thing, and it’s really important for them to speak up, ask questions, to the doctors. And that’s the only way we can make sure that the patient is getting the right treatment, right dose, if you need to modify, if you need to look for something else. That’s the only way, when we have that, if I can say, that trusting relationship, with proper communication, we can make sure that they – ensure they continue to get the right treatment. 

Key Considerations When Making Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment Decisions

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Key Considerations When Making Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment Decisions from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Making metastatic breast cancer treatment decisions involves weighing key factors. Dr. Jane Lowe Meisel shares important considerations that aid in choosing the best treatment for an individual patient.

Jane Lowe Meisel, MD is an Associate Professor of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Winship Cancer Institute at Emory University. Learn more about Dr. Meisel here.

See More From INSIST! Metastatic Breast Cancer

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Which Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment Is Right for You? Guide

Factors That Guide a Metastatic Breast Cancer Treatment Decision

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Transcript:

Katherine:

Yeah. Yeah. So, what factors are considered when deciding on the best treatment approach for an individual patient?

Dr. Meisel:

So, I think certainly the tumor type that we were talking about. Is it estrogen-positive or HER2-negative or HER2-positive?

I think response to past treatments, both in terms of if someone has had metastatic disease for a long time and has had a few treatments already, how long did they respond to those treatments and how completely did they respond to those treatments?

Did they have stable disease for a while, or did their cancer actively shrink?

And then I think other than that, it would be some of the things I touched on. Side effect profiles. Do patients have pre-existing neuropathy from other chemotherapy? If so, maybe you want to avoid a regimen that causes more neuropathy. Schedule. Some patients, it’s really important to be on a certain schedule, as opposed to a different schedule. I think whether there are clinical trials available instead of whatever the standard of care regimen would be is also important.

Because for some patients who are interested in pushing the envelope or who might be a great candidate for a particular trial, if there is one that they’re a candidate for that’s not horribly inconvenient from a logistics standpoint, then trials I think are also a great option to consider. So, I think from an effectiveness standpoint, you want to think about the tumor type response to past treatments. And then potentially, if the patient has had, what we call genomic profiling, where the tumor has been sent for basically genomic analysis, to see what genes might be mutated in the tumor that could potentially drive a response to a newer, different therapy.

All those things can be taken into account as we think about the cancer. But then there are the patient-specific factors, and I think those would be mainly side effects, schedule, clinical trials and desire or not to pursue those. And then, just what the patient’s perspective is on the plan that you’re offering them.